I love okonomiyaki. And gamja-jeon. This is a vegan white chick fusion of those two things with a silly Frenglish name to please my toddler (pronounced shoo-shoo, meaning cabbage cabbage*). It’s perfect for NZ winter, it’s also chewy, crispy, super quick, and it feels like junk food – which I tend to crave in winter.

I highly recommend using Agria potatoes or another starchy potato and it looks extra pretty if you throw in some purple potatoes too.

*Also a cute name for a kid or baby, or a word for favourite or ‘teacher’s pet’.

Mix all pancake ingredients in a large bowl, get your hands in there so it gets well combined, you don’t want any sneaky floury bits. The liquid from the grated potato and the soy sauce should be enough liquid to wet the mix but it won’t be a batter, more like a sticky mess of grated vegetables. Don’t worry – it’ll stick together once cooked!

Heat a decent amount of oil in a fry pan on medium heat. Unfortunately you will need to use a non-stick pan for this. Once hot, pour your pancake mix in, wet the back of a metal spoon and use it to spread the mixture into an even pancake. Cook for 4-7 minutes until golden underneath and starting to hold together.

In the meantime mix sauce ingredients together in a small bowl and chop garnishes.

Loosen gently and flip. You can do this in one confident gesture (usually followed by a scramble to pick up the ensuing carnage and put it back together in the pan) or flip it onto a dinner plate and slide it back into the pan, uncooked side down. Cook for a further 4-5 minutes until both sides are golden brown.

Slide onto a large dinner plate, drizzle with sauce, cover with garnishes and chop into pizza slices. You can also provide a dipping sauce of soy, vinegar and fresh chillies for an extra chilli hit. This is best enjoyed after a few minutes as it gets chewier once out of the pan.

Filed under: delicious fried food and sneaky way to feed kids healthy stuff by disguising it as junk food.

This is rather heavy on ingredients but could be simplified by omiting the jackfruit and simplifying the spice mix. You can also switch out the jackfruit and chickpeas for tofu to get a softer, less ‘meaty’ texture.

Put 1/2 tin of chickpeas into a large bowl and mash into a rough, chunky paste.

Drain and rinse jackfruit. Pull jackfruit pieces into shreds (toddlers/kids love to help with this part as they have an amazing texture) and finely chop the hard parts at the core. Place shredded fruit into a fry pan with 1/4 Cup vegetarian chicken stock on a medium heat until the stock is more or less gone. Put half of the cooked jackfruit into a blender and add half of the jackfruit to the mashed chickpeas.

Spoon 2 Tablespoons of aquafaba into the blender along with 2 Tablespoons of chickpeas. Pulse until smooth and set aside.

To the large bowl, add spices and flours, lemon juice and smooth mixture from blender. Mix into a wet dough – adding ‘chicken’ stock if needed. Knead for several minutes and put into the fridge to rest for an hour.

Heat 2cms of coconut or vegetable oil in a frying pan.

Prepare 1 plate with white flour and a pinch of salt, 1 bowl with plant milk and 1 bowl with fine breadcrumbs, tumeric and a good grind of black pepper.

Tear pieces of dough about the size of a nugget (you could also make large flat ‘schnitzels’), coat in flour, then milk, then crumbs and set aside. Shallow fry in small batches, turning when golden on each side. Rest on absorbent cloth.

Eat warm or cold (these are even better the next day) with lemon wedges and a sprinkle of lemon juice over them.